Shark sighting closes popular beach

A group of about eight sharks was spotted near the shore of
the popular Coromandel spot.

Pauanui Surf Life Saving Club head lifeguard Martine Smith
says it wasn't hard to get everyone out of the water.

"It's just protocol, Surf Life Saving New Zealand states that
upon a lifeguard seeing a shark the beach must be closed for
60 minutes and all swimmers must be told. And a lot of the
time we ask them to obviously leave the water."

Ms Smith says cloudy conditions mean they can't tell if the
sharks are still out there, but they won't be reopening the
beach for at least another hour.